Tundra (television episode)
Tundra is the fourth episode of TV series 1, originally broadcast on 8 June, 2004, on BBC Three. The episode re-used parts of the pilot episode. The scenario has also appeared on numerous occasions in The Mighty Boosh canon. The story was explored in Arctic Boosh, Tundra from the radio series and the 2006 stage show. Synopsis After Dixon Bainbridge returns from his travels and impresses the Zooniverse staff, Howard, in an attempt to impress Mrs Gideon, sets off with Vince to the Arctic Tundra in search of the Egg of Mantumbi - with the assistance of Gary Numan. In the blinding whiteness, they come face to face with hideous ice demon Black Frost. Luckily, Vince befriended a polar bear. Songs featured * Total Eclipse of the Heart – sung by Dixon Bainbridge and Bob Fossil. * "The Tundra Rap" – sung by Vince and Howard after being inspired by the Blinding Whiteness of the Tundra. * "The Stickleback Song" – the first in a long line of crimps performed by Vince and Howard. Minor Characters featured The Black Frost An "icy bastard" featured in The Tundra. The Black Frost (Dave Brown) is the protector of the egg of Mantumbi (a sapphire the size of a school boy's head). He is so terrible that he is capable of freezing a man's last words as they come from his mouth. However, in the episode he is knocked out by a polar bear that Vince befriended earlier on in the episode. He is also the protector of the Parka People, who refer to him as "Loogaroo". He is a humanoid creature with skin that is midnight black, he has branchlike fingers and hair and a long, pointy nose. He has a high-pitched giggle, but he speaks only once, exclaiming "crikey!" in a Liverpudlian accent when attacked by the polar bear. He arrives accompanied by blasting Drum and Bass music (he has a turntable that plays it) and he is a rather odd dresser, wearing nothing but flashy cowboy boots (which Vince eventually steals) and plastic-looking bikini briefs with a hole in the front that shoots out his freezing "breath". While the polar bear does knock him out, he presumably survived. In the pilot episode of the Mighty Boosh (which follows a very similar storyline to The Tundra), The Black Frost is destroyed when Vince's phone rings, playing a high-frequency monophonic version of Gary Numan's "Cars" that causes him to explode. The Polar Bear Becomes close friends with Vince in "Tundra", much to the surprise of Howard who thinks he has been eaten by him. After a day of fun, the bear asks Vince to "Hold me" to which Vince obliges. Having saved Vince and Howard from the Black Frost, he is seen staring at the stars all alone humming Gary Numan's Are 'Friends' Electric?. In the radio Tundra episode, it is revealed that he works in a kiosk. The Parka People The Parka People are featured in Tundra. They are a strange race of diminutive people who wear parkas that obscure their faces. While Howard is suffering in the snow, convinced Vince is dead, a parka person appears and commands Howard to "look deep into the parka." He claims there are many things within his parka, things Howard has never dreamt of, such as rubies. When Howard says that he has, in fact, dreamt of rubies, the parka person then says his parka contains "lesbian ham". When Howard finally looks deep into the parka, he sees the Egg of Mantubi he and Vince were seeking. Howard returns to the icy lair of the parka people, where he joins them for dinner. He eats one of their vomit, mistaking it for a dish they are offering. Then the parka ruler sentences him to be sacrificed, as they know Howard plans to steal the Egg of Mantumbi, and it is their duty to guard it. While they are summoning the Black Frost, Vince arrives. They grab the Egg, but the alarm goes off, and the Parka People tie them up and then are not seen again. The Interviewees The interviewees are two primitive looking men (played by Noel and Julian) seeking jobs at the zoo, and are interviewed by General Manager Bob Fossil.They constantly repeat the words 'Top Shop' near the end of the scene. Biggie Shackleton The legendary explorer who had come the closest to finding the Egg of Mantumbi before being killed by Black Frost. Howard and Vince discover his body under the ice and defrost his last words which have been frozen in time. Others * Gary Numan - On Vince's request flies the zookeepers to the Tundra. * Karlolak - One of the members of the Zooniverse staff. He is reprimanded by Bob Fossil for having messy hair when Dixon Bainbridge arrives. * The Monkey - The Monkey appears when Howard and Vince are shovelling dung at the zoo at the beginning of Tundra and says "I only had one banana". Later he explains the moral of the story, but is cut off abruptly by the closing credits. * Wind - The only friend Howard Moon thinks he has when he is left alone in the tundra. To this wind says "I hate you". Trivia * The tie worn by the two new zookeepers (played by Noel and Julian) was actually bought from Top Shop. * The white stripe across Noel's face whilst he is in the Tundra is a reference to Adam Ant. * The red and white jacket worn by Noel in this episode was apparently originally worn by Freddie Mercury in a Queen music video and by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in the film Velvet Goldmine. External links * category:Television episodes